Police respond to reports of man with rifle case after Dunmore girls basketball game

HOMETOWN - Rush Township police responded to a report of a man carrying a long-rifle case on the grounds of Marian Catholic High School on Sunday afternoon, according to a supervisor at Schuylkill County Communications, Pottsville.

The call came in at 3:54 p.m. and police responded to secure the grounds. Assisting Rush Township were state police at Frackville and municipal police from Tamaqua, Kline Township, McAdoo and Mahanoy City, according to the supervisor.

At the time, a varsity girls basketball game was going on, Marion versus Dunmore.

When police arrived they secured the building, checked the grounds and did a search of the school, but could not locate the man with the rifle case, according to the supervisor. Rush Township police could not be reached for comment Sunday night.

Dunmore sophomore Jillian Korgeski said the players were in the locker room when news of the possible shooter was delivered by another player's parent.

"We were scared, but our coaches and all the adults around us knew how to handle it," she said. They said, "we would be fine, to calm down, and the state police were on their way."

Dunmore Head Coach Ben O'Brien said after the lockdown, the prevailing feeling was "concern." Both girls basketball teams were moved to a downstairs room to wait for state and local police to address to concern.

"Obviously they were a little shaken up," he said of the players. "A lot of our team's families were at the game and (players) weren't sure what was going on."

That was the case for senior Molly Burke, who said that her parents attended the game.

"They were in the bleachers and I didn't know where everybody in the bleachers went," she said.

The team was escorted to the bus after about an hour after the lockdown commenced, according to O'Brien.

"We were happy that we got out of there," Jillian said of the talk on the drive home. "We couldn't believe it happened and that it actually does happen around here."

Staff Writer Rebekah Brown contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: spytak@republicanherald.com

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